Brakes on FIFA Forward - JFF to vote on proposal today; Ricketts ‘unhappy’ with Infantino’s lack of transparency

Michael Ricketts, president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), said he is confident his directors will vote to reject FIFA President Giovanni Infantino’s ‘FIFA Forward Enterprise’ proposal when it convenes for an emergency meeting at midday today.

Ricketts, who also serves as a vice-president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), said opposition to the proposal is widespread across the global football community, including within both the CFU and Concacaf. Based on discussions with regional officials and his own directors, he expects Jamaica to join that opposition.

“I have had meetings about it, of course. As the vice-president for the CFU, I would have had an equity meeting [Wednesday] evening. In fact, I just came off a meeting with the Concacaf president, and it seemed like it is unanimous that the proposal would not be supported,” Ricketts said yesterday.

“I have just engaged my directors for a meeting at midday [Friday] to get their own perspective on this proposal, but a number of persons have given an indication that they will not be supporting it.”

FIFA FORWARD ENTERPRISE

Infantino’s proposal seeks to create a subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise that will be placed in charge of the commercial rights, sponsorships, licensing, and event operations for all FIFA competitions, including the World Cup.

The proposed company has been valued at US$20 billion, with FIFA seeking to sell up to a 20 per cent minority stake to outside investors while retaining an 80 per cent controlling interest.

Infantino has argued that the move would significantly increase financial returns for FIFA’s 211 member associations. Under the proposal, each association would receive up to US$40 million during the 2027-2030 funding cycle, up from the US$10 million currently earmarked.

The FIFA president requires majority support from member associations for the proposal to pass and has set a September 19 deadline for federations to approve the plan if they are to access an initial US$20 million in funding.

Despite the promised increase in revenue, the proposal has drawn sharp criticism from football stakeholders worldwide.

In a statement, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) strongly rejected Infantino’s plans, threatening to boycott the World Cup if they are approved.

“We unanimously and unequivocally reject FIFA’s proposal to transfer ownership interests in the World Cup and other FIFA competitions to private investors,” UEFA’s statement read.

“The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product. It is one of football’s greatest sporting legacies,” their statement continued.

“No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors. The World Cup is not for sale.”

NO TRANSPARENCY

Ricketts is also staunchly against FIFA’s proposal and slammed what he viewed as a lack of transparency by Infantino.

Ricketts said FIFA had multiple opportunities before, during, and after the recent World Cup to disclose the proposal but failed to do so.

He said this lack of transparency has only increased the pushback against the proposal and criticised FIFA’s process of drafting the proposal.

“We knew nothing about this. All the meetings that we had prior to the World Cup, during the World Cup and after the World Cup, this never came up for discussion,” Ricketts said.

“It all adds up to what we think was not a fair process. Even now, we don’t know who these partners are and who will be buying whatever per cent is up for sale,” he continued.

“This has only compounded the problems and obviously, we are very, very, very unhappy with the entire process, and I am sure it will be rejected when we have our meeting to collectively discuss the issue.”

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com